Elevator-door lock



Feb. 16 1926.

F. E. KALTE ELEVATOR DOOR LOCK Filed Oct. 13, 1923 n univ,"

Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK E. KALTE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGN'OR TO RANDALL CON- TROL AND HYDROMETRIC CORPORATION, CF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A COR- PORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

ELEVATORDOOR LOCK.

Application filed October 13, 1923. Serial No. 668,303.

.i a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Los Angeles, in the county of Los lAngeles, and State of California, have invented a new and useful Elevator'- Door Lock, of which the following is a specification.

`This invention relates to a lock for elevator doors, either for the shaft or for the car, and more particularly to a lock that is especially adapted for horizontal doors that l open in a vertical direction, as on freight elevators.

Elevator doors'of this character especially are sometimes so constructed that a considerable amount of play fiom side to side in the door guides cannot be prevented.

When locks of the usual kind are installed under such circumstances, there can be no assurancevthat they 'will operate properly, since the locking part may be considerably out of alinement upon closing movement of the door. It is one of the objects of my in` vention to correct this condition, and to ensure that the doors may lock under any adverse swaying mo-vement.

In many types of locks it is required that upon operation they cause a control circuit to be made or broken, whereby it may be ensuredthat the car cannot bestarted until all of the doors are closed. It is still another object of my invention to provide this interlocking feature inra horizontal type of doorLthat is reliable in operation, and may be depended upon even when the doors are poorly tfitted and have considerable play in their guides.

It is still another object of my invention to prov-ide in general an improved form of elevator door interlock.

My invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which with the foregoing will be set forth at length in the following description, where I shall outline in full that form of the invention which I have selected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. Although I have shown in the drawings but one form of my invention,I do not desire to be limited thereto, since the invention as expressed in the claims may be embodied in other forms also.

Referring to the drawings:

.Figure l is a fragmentary view of an elevator door and lock in closed position, and embodying my invention, some of the` parts being shortened to permit the use of a large scale, and the covers for the lock being omitted so as to show its structure more clearly; f

Fig. 2 is a View of the lock and its cooperating bolt in a partly opened position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the lock, taken along plane 3 3 of F ig. 2; and

Fig. fl is a side elevation of the complete lock, with its covers in place.

In the present instance I illustrate the device einbodying my invention as applied to a vertically movable, horizontally extending elevator door ll. This door is shown as arranged to cooperate with a lower door 12, the two doors meeting on a line 13 and arranged to move apart and to move together. These opening and closing movements of the doors may be effected in any well-known manner, either manually or by power. Guides such as channels 11i may be provided for the doors, and furthermore doors such as illustrated may be placed either at the shaft landings or on the cars themselves, or both.

Horizontal movement of the door 11 cannot be altogether prevented, and in order that this horizontal movement be compensated for, I arrange a locking member or bolt 15 for this door that has itself a substantially horizontal operative movement. In this way, the horizontal motion of the door l1 is ineffective to throw the bolt 15 out of alinement with its lock. This feature is of great importance, for it is evi dent that it is merely necessary to provide a variable extent of operative movement of the bolt 15 in order to take up the side play. For guiding the bolt at one end, a strap 16 appropriately fastened on the door 1l is provided. The operation of the bolt 15 is effected in such a wayv that it is resiliently or yieldingly urged to its closing position toward the right. One way in which this may be accomplished is by the aid of a weighted bell-crank lever 17, the handle end 18 having sutlicient weight to urge it to the position shown in Fig. 1. The other end of the lever 17 is pivoted to the bolt 15, as at 19. The lever 17 is pivoted on a stationary part of the door 11, as on a standard/20- fastened to the door lip. Furthermore, appropriate stops 21-and 22 are arranged to limit the movement of thel lever 17, and thereby that of the bolt 15. In order to open the lock, it is necessary to rotate lever 17 in a rclockwise direction and against the weight of handle 18. This .rotation may be performed either manually or by power. It is evident thatbolt will then be moved toward the left. The weight of lever handle-18-urges the bolt 15 to closing position, and causes a comparatively large-movement thereof if it be vnecessary for fully-'closing the lock.

vThe lock 23, comprising -a hollow casing, is'a'ppropriatelyv supported on a relatively stationarypart'of the car yor of the shaft,

and has an opening 24 into which the bolt 15 isladapted to enter. rThe closing movement of .door 11 being'in a downward directionfyan inclined'guideor cam 25 4is arranged on the Alock-28 to serve to move the bolt-15 toward the left automatically as this movement of the door occurs,- and thereby to lpermit ittoSnap into the aperture 24; on continued downward movement of door 11. *The llower-surface of the end of vbolt 15 'l for the lock 23 so as to protect Vthe vinterior thereof. i "Upon opening movement of the door, the bolt 15 is out of alinement with the aperture24,so that this bolt cannot snap intofplace until the door 11 is entirely closed.

'i It is `Voftentimes -desirable to* provide safety devices ensuringVY against starting the car unless all of the elevator doors are closed. VAKllhis is accomplished by an interl lock-arrangement, wherebyfa control circuit is arranged to be 'interrupted while the bolt 1`5is'wit'hdrawn fromthelock. This circuit may Vinclude apair ofV stationary contacts 28 (shown most clearly in Fig. 3) supported preferably near the back of lock 23, as-on theinsulation board 29. These contacts arein the present instance shown as parallel barsin electrical connection :with

o wires 30 passinginto the lock through the conduit 31."Fur-thermore thc-se bars 28V are close enough together as-to-perinit them to be bridged by a contact disc 82 which is f the -movable element-'of the circuit coiitroller. lThis disc is supported on a tumbler V'33 kpivoted as at 3401i theV inside of the lock,

and 'having a free position Lsuch that the silientlyy supported onthe rear faceof the tumbler 38 so astopermitthe disc tofhave some axial movement. by theaid of a post or screw 35 which is insulatingly supported on the tumbler 82.

VAAgainst the head'of'f-this post the disc 32 is urged by the compression spring 36. 4This springperinits the disc 32 tohave considerable movement vto accommodate itself to the surfaces ofA bars^-28,-and4 further 'assists in insuring that-there willbeanipleV compensation forthe-side play inthe doory 11.

The rotation oftumbler 83in a counterclockwise direction toclose the contacts may be effected only when the bolt 15 enters the lock '23. Forf-this-purpose the tumbler-33 islo'cated in the path of -travel' of*n theV bolt 15, and oppositethe aperture 24 in the lock. Both the -bolt and the Vtumbler are `provided with notches, such-as '37 andS, forming interengaging projections or fingers 39 .and 40. -"Th-us on' closing-the Aflock, the yfinger 3901i `bolt l-f-entersfinto the'no'tCh-S8 and serves as a positive meanslfor urging the leverorv tumbler 83 to vthev right. On4v the other hand, when -thelock is opened, the fingers-'39 and 40 engage and serve positively-in: preventing the contacts from sticking. i Theprojection Omayalso-serve-conveniently as ai stop-*for the tumbler 33, as shown most'clearly'in `Figi 2.

1t is evident thatr bythe aid of the'device disclosed, proper operation'of both the lock and of the contacts is assured, in' spite of theside lmovement of the door; 11. Furthermore, it iseVidentthat many oft the ad- This is accomplished vantageslof `this invention may be secured for vertical doorsoftliel usual type, aswell l claim:

11n a lo'ckforla'horizontal elevator door', a. horizontally movable bolt supported on the door, a-loclr casing having -a'n' aperture alining With-the bolt onlyy when1 the door as for the horizontal type shown.

lisin closed position, said bolt having a large horizontah movement'l tof'compensate for Y variations iii-'the 'horizontal distance lbe1 tween the door and l the lock eas-ing, a tumbler inthe casing, a conta-ct resiliently supported by the "tumbleryand a cooperating stationary contact,v said tumbler` and horizontal `movement ofthe Sbolt in and out of the aperture mayMserve-to operate the contacts positively in 'either-direction.

lboit Vhaving-.interengaging parts,I whereby 2. Ina lock for Sa horizontalelevator door, a weighted lever-supportedflon the door, a

movement of said bolt may be comparatively large, a lock casing having an aperture and supported at the side oi? the door, the aperture alining With the bolt only When the door is in closed position, an inclined guide supported by the casing and cooperating with the lower surface of the boli end to move it against the force exerted by the weighted lever as the door is brought l0 to closing position, and thereby to permit it to enter the aperture in the casing, a Weighted tumbler opposite the aperture and pivoted for movement 1n the casing about set my hand.

FREDERICK E. KALTE. 

